In Cruel Fate's Hands
by Curiositykils
Summary: Fate has certainly been cruel to Hermione. Complete.


_Disclaimer- I own neither Hermione nor Draco_

ooo

The sound of faint wheezing was the only thing you could hear in the room. Sure there was the large beeping of some monitor at staccato intervals, but it was the faint wheezing that captured your attention.

Hermione lay in the small hospital bed and despite how foggy her mind was, she couldn't stop the one line of thought that had been consuming her for the past few hours.

How was this possible? It wasn't supposed to happen like this. This wasn't the way her life was supposed to go. She was a war hero for Merlin's sake! She wasn't supposed to be lying here in a Muggle hospital dying from a Muggle disease! It wasn't fair. She had never done anything to deserve this so why had fate dealt her such a cruel hand?

Self pity was a disgusting thing. It was the one thing Hermione had not given into over the last few months, yet now, as she lay alone in the room, it crept up to her bed and seemed to seep into her body through her pale skin.

Hermione didn't hate him- the man who could have held her hand and fought the self pity, banishing it away from her.

Her husband.

The man who had seen so much death and couldn't bear to see one more loved one passing away. She couldn't blame him for leaving her when she had told him about the cancer. If they hadn't been married, she would have left him in order to spare him the pain of seeing her body slowly slip away.

He was her husband and she would protect him till her last breath. But without her children filling her world, she was left alone to stew in the feelings of hate and anger.

She turned her head slowly to look at the standard white clock hanging on the wall. She could make out the numbers despite the dimmed lights in her room.

10:07. One hour and fifty-three minutes before she could stop fighting and let go.

A tear escaped from the side of her eye and Hermione quickly turned her head so that the pillow would soak up the moisture before it travelled any further. She wasn't in any physical pain so there was no need for tears.

She had just closed her eyes when she heard the door open and a flash of artificial light from the corridor danced across her closed eyelids. Hermione snapped her eyes open. Who in Merlin's name had just come into her room? She had said her goodbye's two hours ago. She didn't want anyone, especially her children, to see her in such a state.

It was a while before her eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light and she realised just who was standing at her door. What in Merlin's name? Hermione rapidly blinked her eyes again. Maybe she had finally lost all sensible brain function?

"Draco?" she asked absurdly.

It took her former enemy three seconds to respond with a useless, "Hermione."

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Draco walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Once again, the only light that bathed the room came from the moon outside her window. He said nothing as he moved to stand next to her head. He looked at her and Hermione felt the need to lift herself up into a sitting position so he wouldn't be looking down on her as much.

"Visiting someone." He answered briskly before firing off another question before she could comment. "Why are you here by yourself?" he demanded strongly.

Hermione's eyebrows drew into a puzzled frown. "I don't want anyone to see me when I-" Her voice trailed off, knowing he would discern the end of that sentence without her having to voice it out loud.

"Your husband should be here." He stated with a hard tone.

"My husband couldn't stand to see me like this. I understand." She replied in a quiet voice.

"You're better off without him. He's a cowardly bastard." Draco said as he turned his head slightly so he wasn't looking into her eyes anymore.

Hermione's lips stretched into a thin smile. "No he isn't. He's the most wonderful man I could ever have hoped to marry. I love him with all my heart."

Draco didn't reply. Instead, he shifted his head until he spotted a chair and brought it to her bedside before he dropped onto it.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"What does it look like, Granger?" he replied.

Hermione smiled at the use of her maiden name. Despite taking her husband's name, Draco still called her Granger. At least it was one thing that hadn't changed. Two seconds later fear hit her heart and her stomach churned.

"You can't stay. I don't want anyone to be here." She said beseechingly.

Draco turned to look at her and his eyes took in the changes to her body since he'd seen her last. She was painfully thin and looked weak. Not at all like the fierce Amazon that he'd always seen her as.

"Tough, I'm staying."

Hermione opened her mouth to force her point but closed it when she saw the hard look he gave her. Despite not wanting him to see her like this, she was selfishly grateful that he was here. That she wasn't alone.

A few minutes passed without a word spoken between the two. Hermione broke it.

"How have you been?" she asked conversationally.

Draco let out a harsh laugh. "Not so good."

Hermione lifted her heavy hand and moved it to rest on one the back of one of his. She patted him in comfort. "Why not?"

Draco shifted his gaze from the wall to her eyes. "I made an unforgivable mistake and it's too late to take it back."

"Just say you're sorry." She said.

Draco shut his eyes tightly in pain. "It isn't that fixable."

Hermione continued patting his hand as often as she could. "Maybe it is. If you say the words out loud then I'm positive the person who you hurt will forgive you."

Draco didn't respond.

"Go on. Try it. Say the words." Hermione pushed.

"I'm sorry." Draco said in a strangled cry.

Hermione smiled. Her hand was now too tired for the patting so she simply moved her fingers in soothing circles. "There you go. Wasn't that easy?" she asked.

Draco shut his eyes tighter. It was when Hermione coughed that he opened them and quickly turned to face her. She had moved the hand she was touching him with to cover her mouth and when she rested it against his skin again, he registered how cold it was.

"You're cold." He stated numbly.

Hermione gave a small shrug which was barely recognisable with her tiny wren-like shoulders.

It was at that moment that Draco was hit with the situation. He'd always associated Hermione with warmth and fire and vivacity. Yet here she was- icy cold and dying.

He reached over with his other hand and cocooned her hand in his. It was a vain effort to warm her.

Hermione closed her eyes. She could feel the warmth from him hitting her skin and after an initial painful feeling, it was incredibly comforting.

"That feels nice." She said. "I've been trying to get warm for the last few hours."

Anger instantly filled Draco and he was just about to angrily shout out on why the Healers hadn't bothered to place a heating charm on her when he realised where they were.

"Where else are you cold?" he asked.

Hermione's eyes opened as she heard the anger in his voice and she hesitated before answering, "Everywhere."

Draco gritted his teeth before standing up. Hermione watched him shuffle for a few seconds, wondering what he was doing before he walked around to the other side of her bed and lifted the covers.

She tried to draw back from the invasion of cold air but it was quickly replaced by the warmth of Draco's body as he settled himself on the narrow space next to her. Hermione was frozen in shock at the action, before she slowly turned over and curled up against his side.

The movement allowed Draco to overcome his initial fear of rejection and he shifted onto his side so he could move his arm over her waist and bring her closer to his chest.

Hermione let out a sigh of contentment. After so many nights spent alone in her once warm marriage bed, it felt wonderful to finally be able to feel human warmth against her. She could now die warm and happy. That was all she wanted.

As soon as the thought passed through her mind, she froze. No, that wasn't the only thing she wanted. What was the time? She wanted to lift her head to look but it felt so heavy.

"What's the time?" she asked Draco instead.

"10:31" he murmured. "Why?" he asked her gently.

Hermione nuzzled her head closer into his chest and Draco once again brought her body closer to his.

"Not on Rosie's birthday." She replied quietly. "Please not on Rosie's birthday." She pleaded brokenly, her small body shuddering as she cried.

Draco felt his heart tear at the muffled sound as she tried to control her tears. "Shh." he comforted softly. His hand moved up and down against her back and he felt her hand clench his shirt.

"Your children love you. Your friends love you. Your parents love you…Your husband loves you." he said desperately as he tried to console her.

Hermione's body shook harder at his words. "I love my children. I love my friends and my family. I love my husband most of all." She croaked.

Hermione moved her head back slightly so she could look into Draco's eyes. "I've loved my husband for the last nine years. I forgive him for everything he's ever done to me that's caused me hurt because I know he was hurting too. My husband is the best husband in the Wizarding world."

"Not the Muggle world?" Draco quipped.

Hermione let out a reluctant chuckle. "Even in the Muggle world."

"Well I'll let him know you said so." Draco said.

"You do that." Hermione countered. "Let him know that I'll love him from wherever I go and that I know he'll love me too. Let him know that I don't want him to stop living because I'm gone. I love my children and they'll need a mother so if he ever meets a nice woman and is lucky to fall in love again-"

"Hermione no. Surely it's his decision if he wants to marry again." Draco cut in.

Hermione ignored him and continued with determined force. "-If he's lucky to fall in love again, I don't want him to feel guilty and do something stupid like stay alone for the rest of his life."

"Maybe he deserves to stay alone. After all, he left you alone."

"No! Whatever he's done he's apologised for and I've forgiven him. I love him and I want him to be happy." Hermione pushed.

Draco didn't say anything in response.

"My husband is a stubborn man. You'll have to make sure he follows my wishes." Hermione demanded.

Draco laughed at that. "His wife is a stubborn woman. How your marriage survived for nine years is a miracle."

"It's a wonderful miracle." Hermione said softly as she finally relaxed and rested her head against his chest.

Eventually Hermione fell asleep and Draco simply rubbed her back gently. He could feel the faint expels of breath from her mouth tickling against his neck but he didn't move from his position. Those tiny tickling's were giving him the largest amount of comfort at this particular moment in time.

Draco felt his own eyes grow heavy and he glanced at the clock. "10:51," he mumbled to himself. He still had time. He let his own eyes close briefly for a rest. He could hear the faint hustle behind the closed door and as long as he focused on that, he wouldn't fall asleep.

The next time Draco opened his eyes, the first thing he registered was the loss of the tickling against his throat. He lay still for five seconds as his whole body pleaded for her to make a sound- any sound that indicated she was still breathing. A millisecond later, tears were rapidly falling out of his eyes as he wrapped Hermione around him tighter. Oh Merlin, she was gone. She had left him.

"I love you, Hermione Malfoy." He whispered into her ear hoarsely. He rocked their bodies together as his loss wracked through him.

Belatedly, he realised he needed to check the time. His head jerked up from Hermione's sweet smelling, curly waves and through his tears, he focused on the hands of the clock. A harsh round of sobs tore out of him and he dropped his head back down into her hair.

Fate had certainly dealt Hermione Malfoy a cruel hand. For the standard white clock on the wall showed the time to be 11:58.

ooo

_Author's Note: What can I say? Misery loves company and I was feeling blue._


End file.
